The continuing loss of biodiversity – made up of genes, species and ecosystems – is a matter of growing concern in Europe. Yet measuring the extent of the loss and the threat it poses is a huge challenge.

This report assesses farmland, forests, freshwater
ecosystems, marine and coastal systems, wetlands of
international importance and mountain ecosystems
in order to provide evidence of progress — or lack
of progress — towards the 2010 target of halting the
loss of biodiversity.

This report presents a first indicator-based assessment of Europe's progress towards its target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010. The Streamlining European 2010 Biodiversity Indicators (SEBI 2010) process was set up to streamline national, regional and global indicators and, crucially, to develop a simple and workable set of indicators to measure progress and help reach the 2010 target.

This project set out to support the Streamlining European Biodiversity Indicators (SEBI) process by developing a prototype indicator of European bat population trends. The methodology for the construction of the indicator was built by adapting and testing a statistical approach previously developed for birds and butterflies. The resulting prototype hibernating bat indicator covered the period from 1993 to 2011; data were incorporated on 16 species from 10 schemes spread over 9 countries.

Bat numbers increased more than 40 % between 1993 and 2011, after declining for many years, according to a new report by the European Environment Agency (EEA), which considers the state of bat populations in a handful of countries across Europe.